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Effexor and kidney stones

My son has been on Effexor for 2-3 years and during that time has developed calcium kidney stones so severe he has lithotripsys every 8 weeks. None if his doctors have ever linked the two but we have just read an FDA report that says up to 26% of males his age will develop kidney stones on Effexor. Please let me kniw your experiences, esoecially if ceasing the drug also stopped the formation of stones.

@wendyw – So sorry to hear about your son but know that you are being a great mom pursuing answers for him. I have PKD (Polycysitc Kidney Disease) and took Effexor for several years. All I can tell you is that I have never had a kidney stone. I do know drinking a lot helps keep kidney stones at bay and I never drank much (water I mean!) until the last two years and still I have never had a kidney stone. I am a female and you said the study referred to males so I’m afraid my experience is not much use to you and my medical knowledge in this area is negligible.

I wish you all the best and I am glad you turned to the Mayo Clinic because if they can help I know they will.

@wendyw – I just read on the Mayo site (from link above) about how the parathyroid can be overactive and cause increased formation of calcium kidney stones. That might be something to explore with his nephrologist if it has not been examined already. It says if this is the case, treating the thyroid decreased (or maybe stops?) the formation of kidney stones. I’m not a doctor so please share this with his doctor and see if it provides any answers.

@wendyw – So sorry to hear about your son but know that you are being a great mom pursuing answers for him. I have PKD (Polycysitc Kidney Disease) and took Effexor for several years. All I can tell you is that I have never had a kidney stone. I do know drinking a lot helps keep kidney stones at bay and I never drank much (water I mean!) until the last two years and still I have never had a kidney stone. I am a female and you said the study referred to males so I’m afraid my experience is not much use to you and my medical knowledge in this area is negligible.

I wish you all the best and I am glad you turned to the Mayo Clinic because if they can help I know they will.

@wendyw – I was just learning what lithotrypsys is and it lead me to reread your original post. Assuming your son is taking Effexor to treat are many depression have you considered switching meds to see if it helps? There are many meds available for depression and although it can take awhile for them to get in your system and work well it sounds like his life is somewhat on hold anyway so now might not be the worst time to try a change. Obviously, he should speak with his prescribing doctor to make the decision that is best for him but it would at least eliminate Effexor as a variable in the possible cause of his frequent kidney stones. Otherwise, the Mayo link that was shared before gives some home remedies you can try, especially since you know what type of kidney stones he has.

@wendyw – I was just learning what lithotrypsys is and it lead me to reread your original post. Assuming your son is taking Effexor to treat are many depression have you considered switching meds to see if it helps? There are many meds available for depression and although it can take awhile for them to get in your system and work well it sounds like his life is somewhat on hold anyway so now might not be the worst time to try a change. Obviously, he should speak with his prescribing doctor to make the decision that is best for him but it would at least eliminate Effexor as a variable in the possible cause of his frequent kidney stones. Otherwise, the Mayo link that was shared before gives some home remedies you can try, especially since you know what type of kidney stones he has.

@wendyw – I was just learning what lithotrypsys is and it lead me to reread your original post. Assuming your son is taking Effexor to treat are many depression have you considered switching meds to see if it helps? There are many meds available for depression and although it can take awhile for them to get in your system and work well it sounds like his life is somewhat on hold anyway so now might not be the worst time to try a change. Obviously, he should speak with his prescribing doctor to make the decision that is best for him but it would at least eliminate Effexor as a variable in the possible cause of his frequent kidney stones. Otherwise, the Mayo link that was shared before gives some home remedies you can try, especially since you know what type of kidney stones he has.

Rosemary, after checking so many things we have accepted it seems Effexor is not known to cause kidney stones. Rather devastating as we were hoping for a reason and cure!
so what we are left with is he has medullary sponge kidney all his life but no symptoms until 3 years ago, and ulcerative colitis which developed when he was about 20 ( now 41). Both of these can cause kidney stones too.
With lithotripsy’s every 8 weeks and severe pain in between we are desperate for answers. If anyone has ANY suggestions for stones, pain or cause please help. Thank you

@wendyw – So sorry to hear about your son but know that you are being a great mom pursuing answers for him. I have PKD (Polycysitc Kidney Disease) and took Effexor for several years. All I can tell you is that I have never had a kidney stone. I do know drinking a lot helps keep kidney stones at bay and I never drank much (water I mean!) until the last two years and still I have never had a kidney stone. I am a female and you said the study referred to males so I’m afraid my experience is not much use to you and my medical knowledge in this area is negligible.

I wish you all the best and I am glad you turned to the Mayo Clinic because if they can help I know they will.

@wendyw – So sorry to hear about your son but know that you are being a great mom pursuing answers for him. I have PKD (Polycysitc Kidney Disease) and took Effexor for several years. All I can tell you is that I have never had a kidney stone. I do know drinking a lot helps keep kidney stones at bay and I never drank much (water I mean!) until the last two years and still I have never had a kidney stone. I am a female and you said the study referred to males so I’m afraid my experience is not much use to you and my medical knowledge in this area is negligible.

I wish you all the best and I am glad you turned to the Mayo Clinic because if they can help I know they will.

@wendyw, I saw your message, and that you are directing your reply to a particular individual. I want to share the following directions with you. I am mentioning @lcamino for you within this reply.

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Rosemary

Hi Wendy. I live in New Zealand. My 19 year old son is on Enlafax and has had two excruciatingly painful kidney stones in three days. One has passed tonight and a CT scan has shown that there is another one moving and this will probably cause him huge pain at 3am when his painkilling shots wear off. He has multiple small stones in his left kidney. Having kidney stones at 19 is rare in our country. Something isn't right and I'll be in contact with you. I doubt that my son will be on this drug by the end of the week. Take care and sending you my best wishes.

thank you so much. I’m just a mum without medical training so I hope you can explain this to me more clearly. after his last lithrotripsy his surgeon suggest kidney transplant if it gets too much !!! I am sorry but as a new member I cant post links but it is the e med site with statistics about developing stones.

Hi Wendy. I live in New Zealand. My 19 year old son is on Enlafax and has had two excruciatingly painful kidney stones in three days. One has passed tonight and a CT scan has shown that there is another one moving and this will probably cause him huge pain at 3am when his painkilling shots wear off. He has multiple small stones in his left kidney. Having kidney stones at 19 is rare in our country. Something isn't right and I'll be in contact with you. I doubt that my son will be on this drug by the end of the week. Take care and sending you my best wishes.

Hi @newzealandmum, Enlafax and Effexor are brand names for the drug venlafaxine (as you already know). A couple things that I've learned from discussion here on Connect.
1) Kidney calculus or kidney stones are a rare yet know side effect of venlafaxine